What influences the speed of your network?

If webpages open slower than usually or downloads seem to last for ages, it’s not necessarily caused by your colleague’s illicit gaming at fault. Here are some other factors that can affect your internet speed.

Let’s take a look at some of the dynamic factors that can influence your network speed.

Hardware

Your internet speed heavily depends on your network equipment, such as the router or cable). For example, an ethernet connection is generally more stable and quicker than Wi-Fi. If you’re using a Wi-Fi connection, your internet speed might decrease as more devices connect to the same network. Last, but not least, your online work might be slowed down by the hardware of the computer itself – for example, if you have a weak processor.

A little extra for Wi-fi users

If your Wi-Fi router is located far from the devices, your internet speed won’t be optimal. To solve this problem, consider getting a wireless repeater. These are little signal copiers that can be placed between the router and the device to double the strength of the Wi-Fi signal. Physical obstacles placed between the router and devices, especially water and metal, can also reduce internet speed. So, move away metal boards, if any, and aquariums.

Viruses

Once a virus or malware kicks in, it might be running in the background, connecting to the internet without your permission and draining your computer’s resources. Take precautions by installing an antivirus program, and only get add-ons and extensions from trusted sources.

The software you run

If you run too many apps that need to connect to the internet at the same time, things will naturally go slower. Some of them might run in the background without you noticing. Check the auto-update, sync or backup settings, for example, in file-sharing apps you use.

Also, make sure you keep only the necessary add-ons and toolbars in your browser. Each of them is a separate small app that can take up a share of your bandwidth.

Number of users

Internet speed slowdowns will occur when a large number of people try to connect to the internet at the same time. These often happen during peak activity hours, such as after work hours when everyone gets home and tries to connect to the web. Similarly, on a crowded public Wi-Fi where many users are using one network (at the airport for example), slow internet speeds are typical.

Get it right from the beginning

By aligning your business with the right internet service provider you can ease all of your concerns about losing a working weeks’ worth of time due to slow internet connections. To get yourself clued up on some of the intricate IT jargon you need to be aware of, download our Glossary of Internet connectivity terms